From the early 19th century until the early 1960s, Greeks constituted the largest, economically strongest, and socially and geographically most diverse of all European communities in Egypt. Although they benefited from the privileges granted to foreigners and the control exercised by Great Britain, they claimed nevertheless that they enjoyed a special relationship with Egypt and the Egyptians and believed that they contributed to the modernization of the country. Greeks and the formation of modern Egypt is the first comprehensive historical narrative of modern Greek presence in Egypt from its beginnings during the reign of Muhammad Ali to the final days of the Nasser era. It critically approaches the reality and myths surrounding the complex and ever-present Greek community in Egypt, examining the legal status of Greeks, their relationships with the country's leaders, their interaction with both the ruling classes